On Saturday, the Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 91-67, improving their record to 13-7 (5-4). It's now VT's third straight win, and suddenly the Hokies are on deck in Blacksburg for a big game against Duke on Monday night.
Virginia Tech was impressive in every way. The Hokies dominated in the paint offensively, with senior center Lynn Kidd scoring 18 points in just 15 minutes of play. Kidd's scoring prowess wasn't necessarily surprising, but the star of the day was Mailjael Poteet.
The senior forward was outstanding on both ends of the floor for the Hokies, recording 18 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Potato went 6-of-9 from the field and made all six of his free throws. He matched his first career high set two years ago when he was playing at Rice.
As a team, the Hokies shot 55% from the floor and made 12 of 27 3-point attempts. Defensively, Virginia Tech held Georgia Tech to 38% from the field, and the Hokies won the rebound battle as well.
What was even more impressive for the Hokies was that they drastically reduced their turnovers in this game. VT had had double-digit turnovers a few times recently, but ended up with just seven turnovers. Junior guard Sean Pedulla had nine points and five assists with just one turnover.
Senior forward Robbie Beran has been playing well lately, scoring 14 points in his highest-scoring game since coming to Blacksburg. He also led Virginia Tech with nine rebounds. Beran has scored in double figures in three of Virginia Tech's past four games.
It was good to see Poteat perform well in attack. He's been playing really well lately, giving the Hokies quality time off the bench. Pot-Eat is also the team's top free throw shooter.
This season, the Hokies have often only gone as far as Pedulla and Hunter Kattore have gotten. Pedula and Cattoa combined for 20 points and made 6 of 12 total 3-pointers on Saturday, but it was Georgia Tech's frontcourt that dominated.
The Hokies are on a roll right now, with a big game coming up against the Blue Devils on Monday. Virginia Tech has a great chance to win the Quad. The Hokies have had a good record against Duke over the years in Blacksburg.
